


Don't Be a Stranger

by TwinAngel01



Category: Spookley the Square Pumpkin
Genre: Christmas, Friendship, Holidays, Memories, Minor death, Past, commission, deviantART, farm, learning how to cope with said death, mentions of Fall, mentions of halloween, movie, resquest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-28 14:03:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19813810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwinAngel01/pseuds/TwinAngel01
Summary: When her mother suddenly passes away, Hailey is left to herself with a bunch of anger and sadness she doesn't know how to deal with, and no one to turn to. Christmas is quickly approaching, and her father decides it would be best for her to stay at her grandparent's farm until New Year so they could both figure out how to deal with their grief. Little did Hailey know that she would find comfort in an unexpected friend from her past.....A scarecrow named Jack.





	1. New Girl on the Farm

**Author's Note:**

> This story was not written by me. I take no credit for it whatsoever, except that the story was my idea. 
> 
> This story was commissioned for me by a wonderful deviantART user, Lyli-in-Wonderland. She is an amazing writer, taking your ideas and making them into something even better that you would have never thought of! 
> 
> I had this idea for a while, but couldn't figure out how to write it so I turned to her. And boy am I glad I did! I highly recommend her if you want a decent commission. Her prices are reasonable for her exceptional work as well. I couldn't have found a better and nicer person to write this!
> 
> Also, I'm sorry this is not Villainous related. I recently rediscovered this movie from my childhood and fell in love with it all over again. This idea has actually been in my head for a few months now. If you have never heard of this, please click here: https://halloweenspecials.fandom.com/wiki/Spookley_the_Square_Pumpkin?venotify=saved
> 
> Happy reading! And sorry for a sort of Christmas story in July, lol.

Fall was over too soon this year. Holiday Hill farm was such a beauty during that time of the year, with the pumpkin patch bustling with color and life. That year, Mr. Hill even discovered a square pumpkin within the patch! Spookley was its name, and it was honored to be chosen –by Mr. Hill himself! - as the best pumpkin in the patch (although it was Bobo who had officially won the Jack-a-Lympics). It was also Spookley who had saved the farm from disaster during a ravaging storm while Mr. Hill wasn’t there… That little pumpkin truly deserved its place on the porch, illuminating the patch every evening.

But now, the storm had long since come to pass and the tree leaves had changed colors until they turned over and fell to the ground in heaps for Jack and Mr. Hill to clear before the snow would cover the grounds of the farm, covering the patches that had been turned and nourished in a white blanket.

But all that had been done a few weeks ago already. Today was the second week of December and, though it snowed rather frequently already, the snow often refused to stay on the ground. This year was rather rainy, in fact. Mr. Hill had predicted quite the strange winter because of those cold December rainfalls. Everyone wondered if they would get a white Christmas this year.

It’s on such a gloomy day that an unknown car pulled up the long driveway of the Holiday Hill farm. The car was a sleek, sober gray color, though it had been dirtied by the pools of water and mud that littered the dirt driveway of the farm. There were only two passengers in the car. A man, the driver, with curly dark hair, wearing a long black coat, and a girl, quite young looking, with similar features as the man’s, except she also had freckles covering her cheeks and nose.

The car stopped on the side of the Hill’s house and the man stepped out after talking a few words to the girl. He walked up the doorsteps and rapped a few sharp knocks.

He was lucky rain was in the forecast today, or Mr. Hill would not have been there to answer the door himself –which he always did when he was home since it was always his wife who had to deal with visitors while he was out.

“My son!” Mr. Hill smiled, taking the man into his arms for a hug. “We’re so terribly sorry for your wife. She was such a lovely woman and a wonderful mother.”

“Thank you, dad.” The man in the coat responded, his voice raspy.

“I see you brought little Hailey.” Mr. Hill nodded his head to the car, changing the focus of the conversation a little. “How has she been? Mary told me that she has been struggling even more with her emotions lately, that it got her in trouble at school.”

“We’re all struggling, dad.” The man sighed. “As it is right now, I can’t deal with Hailey’s problems, especially not her school problems, while also dealing with my own and learning to take care of everything for the both of us… So that’s why…”

“You’re not abandoning her here, son.” Mr. Hill placed a strong hand on his son’s shoulder. “We’re her grandparents and your parents. We’re here to support you and help you, no matter what. Mary simply proposed that Hailey spends some time on the farm so she could get away from, well, everything. You simply accepted to take us on our offer, son, because you can’t get away so easily yourself, what with that city job of yours and all.” The old man let out a light-hearted chuckle. “I doubt you’d want to abandon your dream job to come back to live on a farm!”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“It’s still going to take some time to adjust to this new life, but I know you, son. And I know Hailey. You’ll both work it through, somehow.”

Mr. Hill took a pause and waved a hand towards the car, trying to get his granddaughter to notice him, inviting her inside.

But Hailey wasn’t looking at him. She was staring at the funny scarecrow in the garden in front of the house.

_What a strange way of greeting visitors. Or did they want to scare them away like they did the crows? Not that this specific scarecrow was that scary to begin with…_

It started to drizzle a bit when the two men decided to pick up Hailey’s bags from the car’s trunk to bring them inside the house, the young girl following suite without a word. Mrs. Hill quickly greeted her with a short hug and asking if she would like a hot cocoa to warm up, to which Hailey refused politely.

“We’ll see you for Christmas, right, son?” Mr. Hill was bidding goodbye to his son, who was leaving for the city again.

“I don’t know, dad.” Hill’s son responded quietly, not capable of looking at his father in the eyes. “I might have to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas as well…”

Overhearing this, Hailey clicked her tongue and disappeared upstairs, dragging her bags behind her the best she could.

Her father sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’ll call you tonight to talk more about all this, okay? I have to go now before I’m late for work.”

Hailey watched her father leave from her bedroom’s window.

The rain started to fall harder, the droplets blurring her view of the garden with the strange scarecrow down in front of the farm house.

***

For Hailey, the days pass by slowly… even more so than before she arrived at her grandparents’ it seems. It’s not because there is nothing to do, she made sure to bring a few things with her: laptop, music player, sketch pads and some of her favorite books, even… her grandparents also had a TV and she remembers liking to go play all around the farm and a little in the forest that was at the edge of the farm, even though it was prohibited when she was younger.

Maybe, when the rain will let out a little more, she’ll go for a visit again. She could go walk around that pond her mom had found a few summers ago.

Hailey sighed, trying to stop thinking about her mom. It always hurt so bad, so much worse than when she would get bullied at school for being small… at least, now that she was at her grandparents’, Hailey didn’t have to deal with these morons anymore. To say that she had gotten into trouble at school because of them. Sometimes, she wondered how adults at school hadn’t been able to see that she was only defending herself now because they had crossed the line, not because she like fighting with other kids that were double her size…

Anger welled up inside her, making her face flare up and her muscles tense. She knew she needed to change her mind or she’d end up crying again. All of this at the same time… for Pete’s sake, she was only 10, why did she have to deal with all of this at the same time? Wasn’t it a little too much for someone who was just trying to enjoy her childhood while there was still time?

“Hailey, darling, could you please come down?” Hailey’s grandma’s voice weakly rang up from downstairs. “I have snacks~!”

Letting out a deep sigh, Hailey slowly rose from the bed, pushing her closed book aside. She hadn’t even had the energy –or willpower, for that matter- to even open her book and focus on losing herself in the story in order to forget about the real world. After all, the real world pretty much sucked right about now…

A few long minutes later, Hailey was finally downstairs. Her grandma was in the kitchen, surrounded with bowls and ingredients. She seemed to be cooking…

“Hey grandma.” Hailey forced a little smile. She didn’t want her grandma to start asking questions about why her eyes seemed so red again, or why her voice was strained despite the fact that she barely said a word since her arrival at the Hill’s farm.

“How are you doing today, honey bear?”

“I’m okay grandma…” Not quite, but she tried to be for her.

“Are you hungry?”

“Not really, actually…” Hailey rubbed her arm, looking down at all the bowls and ingredients. “So… what are you making?”

“Actually, I was hoping you would help me make some muffins and maybe dinner? Wouldn’t that be a good way to change your mind while learning some cooking skills with grandma?”

“I guess…” Hailey hesitantly approached the counter, looking warily over all the stuff that was placed around the kitchen. She never really much cooked, or even learned to enjoy cooking since her mom and dad used to cook a lot together, leaving Hailey to either watch or play outside while they were busy in the kitchen.

To be honest, Hailey didn’t think she’d have the patience to really get through all this cooking. Maybe, someday, but not today. Watching her grandma cook and trying to help her out by accomplishing the more menial tasks she was asked to do, Hailey felt like she was out of place. Everything she did was slow, often sloppy even, making Hailey’s patience grow thin despite her grandma’s gentle encouragements.

***

After nearly an hour of frustration, the muffins were out of the oven and cooling on the counter and Hailey’s grandma was getting started on the day’s dinner prep work. Meanwhile, Hailey had stepped outside for a breather. All that baking had drained so much energy, Hailey could only wonder if she’d want to step in the kitchen anytime soon after this.

She looked up from the front porch stairs on which she was sitting, looking off to the farm. Since she had arrived, Hailey had spent most of her time either in her room, trying not to brood over everything that was happening to her at the moment, or she would be with her grandma, learning to do a variety of chores around the house. She didn’t truly enjoy either alternative; the first one often led her to crying over her mom’s death since she would be left to her own thoughts, and the second alternative, although it prevented her from thinking of her mom too much, frustrated her. It wasn’t because they were chores per say, Hailey knew that chores were a necessary part of life and used to do a few back home, but she never liked to do the indoor chores, especially not washing the dishes, cooking and dusting, all of which she was asked to do at her grandparents’.

Hailey let out a frustrated sigh and jumped to her feet, walking down the stairs and towards the garden where the scarecrow was planted. Somehow, it looked somewhat familiar, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Once she got close enough, she walked in a circle around the scarecrow, inspecting it.

“So…” Hailey hesitantly talked to the scarecrow. “Apparently, you’re named Jack.”

Silence answered her. Hailey shook her head. Was she really expecting Jack the Scarecrow to answer her?

She sighed and planted herself beside the scarecrow, watching over the farm with it.

“You know… I really wish that I could be outside more like you. Maybe not all the time, just… more often. Staying inside just makes me think…” Hailey choked on her words.

Tears welled up in her eyes and she rubbed them away in frustration.

“I’m just so tired of crying all the time.” Hailey sniffled. “I just wish I could forget about all this right now. I can’t even spend a day without thinking of her. Heck, I can’t even spend a night without thinking about her or worse… I’ll have dreams about her…”

As Hailey held her head, pulling on her hair as tears streamed down her face, little did she know that Jack was carefully listening to every single word the new girl on the farm was saying.

  



	2. The Frozen Pond

Christmas was fast approaching and, to Hailey’s relief, the weather was just as quickly getting colder by the night. The first blankets of snow had appeared a few days ago, not too long after Hailey had started to talk to Jack, the farm’s scarecrow.

Up until now, he wasn’t very talkative or responsive to Hailey’s rants, but it didn’t quite matter for the girl. At least not for the time being.

Since arriving at the farm, although she always had her grandma closest to her and with a ready shoulder to cry on, Hailey didn’t really want to talk about her grief to her grandma. She felt like it wasn’t her place to do so, that it would make her grandma sad too. As for her grandpa… although she was the most comfortable with him ever since her childhood, she never talked much about feelings with him, so why start now? It’d be so weird…

So the only person left on the farm that Hailey could talk to was Jack. Well, “person” might be exaggerating a little, especially since Jack wasn’t exactly… alive. Nonetheless, Hailey liked that he could listen to all her rants without trying to comfort her. She didn’t think she needed comforting, just… someone to listen and possibly understand her without trying to patronize her just because she was a kid.

Long story short, Jack the Scarecrow was the best confident Hailey could have hoped for. He was always there for her. Every single day, she would slip her coat on and take a breather from her chores and brooding as she stepped into the cold air outside. At first, she would prefer walking around the property before going to Jack (she had this nagging feeling that she was being observed on her outings), instead walking aimlessly for a little while before she would go to Jack and stand in the old pumpkin patch with him, even though there weren’t any crows to scare.

Well, Hailey didn’t always walk aimlessly before going to see Jack for a nice chat. In fact, in the last few days, she had spent quite a few hours rediscovering the Holiday Hill Farm. Walking around the property made her remember the good times she had spent with her family at the farm, in the summer, and all the winter holidays, especially Christmas (New Year was more fun in the city, according to Hailey’s dad).

To say that last Christmas was the last one Hailey could spend with her mother…

Better not think about it too much.

That morning, after one look outside her window, Hailey was filled with excitement, so it wasn’t very much the time to be thinking about the better past or her mother’s sudden departure from this world. There was frost on the window. A whole lot of it too! Hailey could barely see outside because of it all.

So maybe… Maybe the pond would finally be frozen today..?

It was decided: Hailey would take her ice skates with her and go check out the pond once more today, after lunch. For now, she had to hurry and get prepared to go grocery shopping with her grandma.

***

Snow was fluttering down the sky when Hailey was on her way to the pond, skates flung over her shoulder. It was a little later than what she had hoped to go to the pond, since she had planned to stay at the pond for a few hours, probably until dinner, though she would have to make sure to come back not too long after sun down or she might get an earful from her grandparents for “disappearing for such a long time, especially at night.''

Of course, Hailey didn’t want to worry her grandparents (and she really wasn’t interested in the lecture), but every time she would go to the pond, she couldn’t help but forget about the time passing. After all, this pond… Hailey used to know it as ‘Our Secret Pond’.

***

Meanwhile, a funny figure was carefully, albeit a little clumsily, following Hailey from a distance. The snowfall was getting heavier, the sky darkening a little early, which only helped conceal the figure better.

Not that they were really trying to hide, but… she didn’t seem to remember him so… wouldn’t want her to be spooked by a sudden appearance.

It’s just… why was Hailey going to the forest so much lately? She would spend hours there, which wouldn’t be so bad as long as she wasn’t going too far (which she surprisingly wasn’t), but it could still be dangerous to go alone. She could get hurt or, although it was less likely, get lost.

Moreover, while she spent all her time in the forest, she seemed to have stopped having the time to come and talk to him.

This made Jack start feeling lonely, but also worried for the girl, wondering what she was doing in those woods.

Jack shook the scenarios out of his head, in order to focus again on following Hailey from a distance before tripping, and falling face first in the snow.

***

To Hailey’s delight, the pond was covered in ice! There was even a slight layer of powdery snow dusted on the surface, making the pond look like a thin cloud nestled between the trees. From there, Hailey couldn’t clearly see grandpa Hill’s house, but she remembered that the house lights would still shine through the trees at night, which she planned to use as a signal for her to go back home.

She sat down in the snow, taking in the cold beauty of the forest in the winter. She remembered escaping here often to play when she was younger. The forest wasn’t too dense that it was dangerous (at least she never thought of the forest as a dangerous place, despite her family’s warnings about everything that could happen in the forest. That was the problem though: too many “could”s and nothing ever happened, so Hailey really didn’t see why she should prevent herself from having fun here, even if it meant getting dirt all over her clothes and limbs (to her grandma’s dismay and her grandpa’s amusement)).

Then, one particularly hot summer, Hailey reminisced, she had been searching for a cool spot to get away from the sun so she had left the farm and went to the forest. She had wandered around for a little while, pretending to be a ninja as she hopped from one tree’s shadow to another, trying her best to not let the sun’s rays hit her freckled skin. What she didn’t know at the time…

Was that her mother was a much better ninja than her.

Without her knowledge, Hailey’s mom had followed her daughter all the way into the forest.

Why had she done that, Hailey never got the answer.

Nevertheless, there she was, sneakily following her daughter, trying her best not to laugh at the adorableness of the little girl skipping from shadow to shadow, her short brown curls bouncing about as she jumped and hopped over tree roots and rocks. After a little while, she had decided to come out of hiding to surprise young Hailey with a tickle attack.

Hailey smiled at the memory, although she could feel her heart squeezing painfully. She took a deep breath, clearing her head for a moment as she began to put on her ice skates, lacing them up as tight as she could, like her father had taught her.

Once this was done, she carefully rose up to her feet as she held on to a tree for balance. Then, she slowly undertook the descent towards the pond. As the pond was comfortably settled between the valley of the trees, there was a dip in the landscape leading to the accumulation of water. The slope wasn’t too extreme, but just inclined enough to make it slippery when wet and most probably when covered in snow.

***

“I remember this place.” Jack was in awe as he looked around.

Immediately, though, he tensed, hastily covering his mouth with gloved hands.

Hailey didn’t remember him, and since she didn’t remember… the last thing he wanted to do was scare her.

He let out a quiet sigh as he went to stand near a tree. From where he stood, Hailey would most likely never see him as the sun would be in her face and make him look just like a small tree from her point of view. Meanwhile, he could keep an eye on her, making sure that she wouldn’t somehow fall and break a limb or worse.

She had found the small pond that was just past the undergrowth, close to the edge of the forest. He noticed that she had brought her skates with her, which is what worried him in the first place.

Did she really intend on skating on the pond? Jack had never seen anyone try to, so there was really no telling whether it was safe to try or not.

He shifted uncomfortably in his spot, worried that the pond might not…

_ No. Don’t jinx it, Jack. _

***

Hailey set a light foot on the icy surface of the pond and waited a moment. She waited to see if the ice would crack, but, as she heard nothing, she took a look at the ice beneath her foot. Using the blade of her skate, she swept away some snow to get a better look at the ice beneath. After some examination, since Hailey couldn’t see through the ice and there was no creaking from the blades of her skates, she deemed that the ice was thick enough to support her weight.

So she carefully walked onto the ice, making baby steps at first in fear of falling on her butt. It was her first time skating this winter, after all. After a minute or so, Hailey’s confidence quickly grew and she took up the pace and started to circle the pond a few times. Looking at the fine lines she was tracing in the snow felt quite satisfying.

Hailey took a deep breath of the dry winter air as she felt her shoulders relax and she lifted her face to the sky as if trying to reach for it.

_ I’m back at Our Secret Pond, mom. I wonder if you ever saw it like this in the winter… the pond is frozen and I can ever skate on it! _

Was the air getting colder or was it because Hailey had been out for a little too long and hadn’t bothered to cover her face with her muffler? She could barely feel the corners of her mouth lifting into a smile.

“To say that’s the most fun I’ve had in awhile…” Hailey sighed, still looking up to the sky.

Silence answered her and Hailey hung her head.

_ This place isn’t as fun as it used to be… Feels like I’ve never been here without you or a friend… _

The girl let out a sigh, finally covering her mouth and nose from the slight breeze. She turned to take a look to see if the house lights were on.

Next thing she knew, Hailey was fighting for her life as the pond swallowed her whole, the freezing water seeped into her clothes, numbing her limbs, and dragging her to the bottom despite her efforts to breach the surface again.

***

When Jack looked back at the pond –he was too curious to see what Hailey had been looking at in the sky- the little girl had disappeared from sight.

Jack remained frozen in place for what felt like an eternity before he could come back to his senses and free his feet from the accumulation of snow that had gathered around him.

All that snow made it hard to move, but Jack preferred to fall on his face a million times before he would let his first friend die in the pond. He leapt as far as he could to get over the rocks and bushes separating him from the pond. Once on the slope, he let himself slide down on his back as he had tripped on his way.

As soon as he had reached the hole in the middle of the pond, Jack, without a second thought to what it might do to his body, plunged his arms right into the water, grabbed a hold of Hailey, and pulled her out.

To his surprise, although she was definitely heavier than a pumpkin, Jack was able to pick up the girl in his arms. She was unconscious and her lips and fingers were quickly turning blue.

“You’ll be safe now. I’ll get you home.”

***

When Hailey came to, she was laying down on the couch at her grandparents’, the fireplace facing her was giving off a comforting heat. She was wrapped up in a heavy wool blanket her grandma had knitted. Her fingers and toes hurt, as if they were burning and her clothes felt wet.

She sat up, moving the blanket aside to take a look, but immediately stopped when she spotted the family scarecrow sitting on the sofa, seemingly looking directly at her.

Hailey’s heart skipped a beat.

“What the…”

The scarecrow’s smile widened. One of its hands rose up to wave at her.

Hailey fainted again.


	3. A Friend for Christmas

“Has your fever come down, honey bear?” Hailey’s grandma peeked through the bedroom’s door.

“I think so…” The girl grumbled softly, slowly rising to a sitting position in her bed.

About 3 days ago, Hailey had gone to visit the secret pond that was right outside the farm, not too far into the forest, and she had attempted to skate on the now frozen pond. Sadly for her, the ice hadn’t been as thick as she had previously thought and, as she was standing pensively in the middle of the pond, the ice had cracked under her feet and she had fallen into the water.

Lucky for her, she had her own guardian angel (if she could really call him that) and she had been brought back to the farmhouse before she could freeze or drown.

Unfortunately for her, her rescuer wasn’t able to prevent her from catching a nasty cold after the events went down.

“I brought you some porridge for lunch.” Hailey’s grandma’s voice brought her back to reality. “I know you’re not very hungry, but you’ll really need to eat if you want to be able to beat that cold.”

“I know, grandma.” Hailey sighed quietly before taking the soup her grandma was handing her.

She stared at the bowl for a moment before gazing outside, only to spot Jack the scarecrow in the garden facing the house.

“Is Jack still bothering you, honey bear?” Hailey’s grandma delicately sat down on the edge of the bed, offering a concerned look to her granddaughter.

“What do you mean, grandma?” Hailey turned to the older woman, confused.

Her grandmother smiled. “Looks like you stopped hallucinating. That’s good.”

Hailey frowned, even more confused now. She stared at the woman questioningly, demanding further explanations.

“When grandpa and I came back from his appointment at the doctors, we found you asleep on the couch in the living room, so we brought you back here, in your room. However, you woke up from the movement and when you did, you were asking a lot of bizarre questions about the scarecrow, Jack. You thought you had seen him sitting in the house, moving, and even talking to you.”

“I see…” Hailey let out a breath.

Somehow, she couldn’t believe that this had all been a mere feverish hallucination. First, she only got sick after falling in the pond, so there was no way she could have been hallucinating right after being brought back from the pond. Second, how could she ever have come back if it weren’t for somebody saving her? And since her grandparents were away at the doctors’ at the time of the incident, there was nobody at the farm who could have come to her rescue…

Except for Jack.

As hard as it was to accept, Hailey couldn’t believe her grandmother. She hadn’t hallucinated. It was impossible.

Jack the scarecrow was real. Somehow alive, moving and talking.

And she had spent the last 2 weeks at the farm talking to him to her hearts’ content. She had told him things that she had only ever told her late mother.

... and more.

A cold sweat settled on Hailey’s back as she started eating her porridge, keeping a watchful eye on the scarecrow outside, looking for any movement from him.

As soon as she would be allowed out of bed, she would have to clear her suspicions about Jack, and maybe, just maybe, she would have a bone to pick with him for listening in on all her problems like that and following her like a creep to the pond.

***

Another day passed during which Hailey was not allowed out of bed, her annoying fever still a little too high in her grandma’s opinion.

Another day during which Hailey kept a close eye on Jack, but didn’t see him move an inch.

At least, she didn’t see him in action. Nonetheless, she was positive that he had moved spots during the day. She remembered him facing the house when she had woken up, and now he had his back to the house. Moreover, it felt like he was further away by now; usually, Hailey could see him from the lower, center glass square of her bedroom window, but now he was in the middle center square.

The wind alone could not have moved that scarecrow, and she doubted her grandpa had moved the scarecrow too.

Although she admitted that it could potentially be a very good prank to pull on her, especially after her “hallucination” episode.

No matter what the reality was (and she highly doubted that her grandfather was responsible for the moving), she had to see for herself.

So she got up from bed, got dressed in some of her warmest clothes, and headed outside, going directly to Jack. She circled around him slowly, much like she did the first time she went to talk to him, though now she was glaring at him, her hand stuffed in her pockets.

She continued for a little while, hoping to get a reaction from Jack, but so far, she wasn’t getting anything. Not a twitch. So she planted her feet right in front of him, staring for one more minute before she finally spoke up.

“Why did you follow me that day to the pond? How did you even do it?”

Heavy silence. She thought she saw Jack tensing.

“Answer me. Why did you follow me and how come you seem to know me?!”

Finally, Jack peered down at the girl. The first thing he noticed was her green eyes flaming with anger.

“And you’ve been listening in on my rants all this time, too! I didn’t want to share that with anyone! It was none of your business-”

“But Hailey,” Jack interrupted her as softly as he could. “You were so sad, and you didn’t seem to remember me so I-”

Hailey stopped talking, her voice now caught up in her throat. Her bottom lip started trembling as she attempted to hold up her tears.

“I just thought you could use a friend…”

Hailey sniffled. Jack continued, relaxing his posture a bit.

“I just wanted to see you happy again. I thought that giving you a chance to let go of all your emotions as you talked to me would help… a-and that day you went to the pond with your skates… I got worried. I often had to save some animals that had fallen into the pond before because they also thought that the pond was safe to walk across…” He nervously shifted in his spot and lowered his head. “I’m so sorry, Hailey. I didn’t mean to scare you or make you angry… I just wanted to be a good friend to you.”

When Hailey didn’t answer, Jack looked back up at the little girl in front of him. Hot tears were streaming down her face.

“Why do you even care to be my friend?” She croaked with some difficulty.

Jack blinked in surprise. “But Hailey… you were my very first friend. You’re the one who gave me my name, ‘Jack Scarecrow’! Of course I still want to be your friend!” He smiled at her, although he was a little nervous that she would reject his friendship now that she had grown up.

Then, after a long moment of solemn silence, only broken by Hailey’s restrained sobbing, she muttered: “Thanks, Jack.”

***

After the confrontation, Hailey had slowly warmed up to Jack, learning to talk to him again and, although it was much more difficult than it appeared, to trust him again with her feelings. To her relief, Jack had also been nice enough not to push the issue and never forced her to speak if she didn’t feel like it.

He simply wanted to be a good friend, and make her feel comfortable with him again. So, since then, Jack had focused his time with Hailey by showing her his work around the farm, telling her about how the different seasons change the Holiday Hill Farm and how much fun autumn was in particular.

“I’d really like it if you could come attend the Jack-a-Lympics next year. It’d be a lot of fun!” Jack beamed as he and Hailey were on their way to the small fir plantation on the farm to trim the trees.

“The Jack-a-Lympics?” Hailey arched a brow at the name. “It’s like the Olympics for pumpkins?”

“Yes!” Jack beamed. “They compete to be the one to be placed on the front porch. It’s such an honor for the pumpkins!”

_ It’s an honor for a pumpkin to be cut open, emptied and transformed into a Jack-o-Lantern? Sounds creepy to me… _

***

Christmas eve was one day away. Hailey had helped her grandpa choose the Christmas tree from the plantation on the farm. She had specifically chosen one that she and Jack had trimmed together after he had shown her how to do it without hurting herself. She had chosen that tree because she had built such fond memories around that tree in such a short time.

It was just so special to her, she couldn’t wait to have it brought home, decorate it and show her dad (even though she couldn’t tell a soul that she had handled those huge trimming scissors or she might be prohibited to venture out on the farm again).

Hailey was just so excited to see her dad for the first time in nearly 3 weeks. They had tried to FaceTime a few times, sure, but her grandparents’ Internet connection was not the best, so the video would constantly cut during their conversations, which kept them annoyingly short.

Spending so much time at the farm, although Hailey had been quite reluctant at the prospect of it at first, it ended up being very beneficial for her. At first, she thought that the only good parts of her stay at the farm were the facts that she would get to see her grandparents and she didn’t have to go to school, and, instead, do her work from home. However, turns out that staying at the farm helped her heal from her mother’s death. She knew she wasn’t done grieving, but, as Jack had helped her understand:

_ “There’s nothing wrong with feeling sad, or lonely, or angry for that matter. It’s okay to cry and even scream sometimes. These are just mechanisms that help us ‘feel out’ the emotions, and that is so important to do. Keeping your emotions in… you don’t necessarily need to share them with others if you don’t feel like it, but letting them out is the first step to take before you can start letting go of those emotions and, well, go on with your life.” _

She was so proud that she had started to follow Jack’s advice. Until now, she always experienced so much difficulty dealing with her emotions. She had too often refused to cry, especially in the presence of others, because she thought it made her look like a crybaby. Instead, she would either bottle up her emotions or she would snap right back at others, which sadly gave her a bad reputation at school. Maybe, she thought, if she learned to better deal with her emotions, she might meet good friends that will help her deal with the bullies.

Just the thought made her even more excited to see her dad for Christmas.

So when the news dropped that he wasn’t coming…

“Why?” Hailey looked up at her grandpa, trying her best not to get up and run in frustration.

Grandpa Hill sighed. “Knowing him, he’s overworking himself.”

“So he’ll be working on Christmas.”

“That’s what he said.” He nodded. “You know, Hailey, your dad has always been that type of person who, when he doesn’t feel good, he will drown himself in work as a distraction. And I’m afraid he has taken that from me, seeing as I was always working on the farm, no matter what.”

“I see.” She replied flatly. “Doesn’t mean it doesn’t make me angry.”

She got up and headed outside to meet Jack.

She was ready to confide in him again.

***

“I’m just so angry!” Hailey vented. “He sent me here because he was having a tough time with mom’s death. Like I wasn’t having a hard time! Maybe I would’ve needed my father’s support to get over it? But he didn’t think about that, he only thought about himself. Now I learn that he sent me here because he wanted to work more? And it’s not even helping him get over mom either!”

Out of breath, the girl fell silent. She stopped walking back and forth and turned to Jack, a mix of confusion, frustration and deception painted on her face.

“Well…” Jack started, thinking carefully about how he should say this. “I think… I think your father, just like you, is having a lot of difficulty dealing with the loss of your mother. Drowning himself in work is his solution to escape his extreme emotions.”

“But didn’t you say that it was unhealthy?”

“Yes. At least I believe that it is unhealthy, much like what you used to do.”

“I’m still working on it.”

“And I’m really proud of you for that! I think you’re doing good so far too.” Jack smiled.

“So, what do I do now?” Hailey asked. “I was so excited to see him for Christmas, show him how good I’ve been doing and everything I have learned and done at the farm…”

Jack thought for a moment, pinching his chin. “How about you call him tonight and tell him how you feel?”

Hailey stared at Jack as if he had grown a second head. “So you want me to call my dad to tell him how angry I am that he’s not coming here for Christmas?”

Jack hesitated. “Well, that’s part of it, I guess. But I think you should focus on why you are so angry that he is not coming. Do you think that you could explain that to him?”

Hailey looked down at her shoes, her arms crossed as she thought it over.

If she could explain it to Jack…

She could definitely try to explain it to her dad as well.

_ Though I might want to practice a little beforehand, making sure nothing comes out wrong… _

“Okay, let’s try this.” She offered a determined nod to Jack, making him smile back, happy that she was willing to give it a try.

***

The sun was setting when Jack saw Hailey coming back out of the house. Her head was down and her hands were stuffed in her pockets once again. She walked up to Jack, passing by him to look out towards the long entryway leading to the Holiday Hill Farm.

“He said he really couldn’t come. That he couldn’t cancel his work now that he had said he would be there for Christmas… He also said he was sorry.”

“And what did you say?” Jack asked after a moment.

“I…” Hailey looked down at her shoes. “I tried my best not to get angry, but…” She sniffled. “I couldn’t help myself…”

“But were you able to tell him that you missed him and that you were really sad to learn that he couldn’t come for Christmas?” Jack’s voice was soft, patient.

“Well… I was able to tell him how I felt about him not coming…”

_ I just didn’t have the strength left to tell him I missed him too… _

“It’s okay if you didn’t, Hailey.” Jack turned to place a light hand on Hailey’s shoulder. “You’ll get a chance to show him when he comes, right? Do you know when he will be coming?”

“Well…” A small smile tweaked at the corner of the girl’s lips. “I was able to convince him to come for New Years, sooo…”

“That’s amazing! And New Years’ just around the corner too!”

“Yeah, it is…” the brunette finally turned to face Jack. “But meanwhile…” She offered a shy smile to Jack. “I’m really glad that I have a friend for Christmas. And tomorrow, we’ll be making snowmen!”

Jack chuckled. “Sounds good to me!”

***

Christmas came to pass. Despite not receiving any news from her father during that time, Hailey had an amazing time with her grandparents. She wasn’t showered with gifts, she had received a few books she had been meaning to read, but the best part was all the good food she got to eat. Of course, she had to help out her grandma a few times, but, unlike when she first arrived and couldn’t bring herself to truly do anything, she actually enjoyed herself and the time she got to spend with grandma Hill.

On New Year’s Eve, Hailey’s father finally made some time to come to the farm for a few days. Upon his arrival at the house, the first thing he noticed were the 3 snowmen surrounding the farm’s scarecrow, which was now also wearing a festive Santa hat. He smiled at the sight. It seemed that Hailey had some fun with Jack Scarecrow, much like she used to do when she was younger. He smiled and, moments later, his daughter was running outside, her winter coat still unzipped and her scarf missing, only to jump in his arms.

The man chuckled as he held his daughter close to him. “It’s good to see you again, Hailey. I’m so sorry again I couldn’t make it for Christmas.”

“But you’re here now.” Hailey hugged him back, her cold face buried in his chest.

“And I’ll be staying until we go back home  _ together _ .”

***

New Year came to pass as well. Hailey had not come out of the house as often, preferring to spend more time with her father before they would have to go back to their normal city life. Jack didn’t mind it. He still had his snowmen friends to keep him company and he couldn’t be happier that Hailey was smiling so much again.

Sadly for Jack, the time for Hailey to leave came too soon. She had told him she had to go back to school while her dad had to go back to work. Both Hailey and Jack were sad that she had to leave, but to Jack’s relief, she had promised him that she would beg her father to come visit the farm for Thanksgiving and the Christmas Holidays again.

“Just…” Hailey cocked her head to the side, a gleam in her green eyes as she stood in the frozen pumpkin patch, a bag in her hands as she was about to leave. “Don’t be a stranger next time I come around, okay? I’d love to keep you as my friend.”

“Of course, Hailey!” Jack smiled. “We’ll be friends forever!”

“Thanks for everything, Jack. I mean it.”

She turned on her heels and headed to her dad’s car, the same that had first brought her at the farm a month ago. Once she was in, and the car was pulling out, Jack discreetly waved goodbye to his first friend.

_ Come back soon, Hailey. Don’t be a stranger. _


End file.
